WSJ: Fed Officials Figure Out Way to Withdraw QE

Federal Reserve officials have determined how they will pull back from their quantitative easing (QE), according to The Wall Street Journal.

That QE now represents $85 billion of purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities a month.

"Officials say they plan to reduce the amount of bonds they buy in careful and potentially halting steps, varying their purchases as their confidence about the job market and inflation evolves," writes The Journal's Jon Hilsenrath.

The officials want to make their policy clear to the public, so that financial markets don't go nuts in reaction.

They want to make sure markets aren't expecting regular, uniform cuts in QE, as the Fed did with interest rates in 2003-06. During that period the central bank reduced the fed funds rate target by 25 basis points in 17 consecutive policy meetings.

"I don't want to go from wild turkey to cold turkey," Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Fed, told The Journal. "I think we ought to dial it back."

Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Media, thinks the Fed already should be done with QE.

"I was in Britain a few months ago, and they reminded me that QE stands for Queen Elizabeth, and somebody suggested that instead of calling it QE, call it Titanic," he told Newsmax TV. "QE, or Titanic, whatever you want to call it, is contracting the economy."